User blog:OmgHAX!/My little writing project - because you asked for it.
So yeah, this is a story I've been working on since High School. I've never gotten that far into the story before getting writer's block or I get too busy, but I've had enough time to work out some of the mythology and outline of the story. So, for the benifit of my VGA buddies, below is a more or less completed draft of the Prologue. The story after this point takes place two years later and goes to another location entirely. I guess this would be more appropriate on DeviantART, but I've never really used the site. Maybe if you guys are interested in seeing more, I can upload more things there. For now I'm just testing the waters. Chances are you may be confused as to whats going on a this is only a small portion of the story and there's more explanation as the story will progress. Or maybe I might have overlooked something. I'm not a writing major. This is just my hobby. I'm going to spoil it right now and say this story will go in a direction you might not expect. For instance, what inspired me to write this story in the first place was Bone. I bet you'll have a lot of fun figuring out why. Edit: This and more is now on my deviantart page. Prologue December 12th, 2152 The smoke and ashes made it difficult to see any more than fifty feet ahead. The debris of concrete, marble and cinder formed a thick, sickly gray fog that crippled one’s lungs and stung the eyes. The tumultuous din that was the battle made it clear that we were losing, as the ever-growing noise grew closer and closer. It was only a matter of time before our island was completely overrun. The evacuation was still underway, but hopelessly understaffed. Only a few dropships remained that could take the survivors away to safety. Even then, there was no guarantee of slipping past the blockades alive. The civilians and injured were given top priority, and had been the first to escape; however, the sound of anti-aircraft fire in the distance left their fate uncertain. Now, the praetorians were holding their ground stubbornly against the People’s Liberation Front as our stragglers attempted desperately to protect what was left of our crumbling Republic. Standing next to me was General David Freeman, once a poor country lawyer and orphaned at birth, now one of the founding members of the Republic and leading the evacuation efforts. He wouldn’t leave until everyone was safely at the rally point, where we’d organize a counter-attack against the insurrectionists. He had taken me aside for a special assignment. He lead me across the landing pad as he shouted over the noise. “I need you to investigate The Vault. OMI needs something there for a contingency plan.” The Vault? Nobody was supposed to know that even existed, let alone what’s in there. “Isn’t that the Praetorian’s job? Aren’t they supposed to be guarding The Vault?” “The squad guarding it hasn’t reported back. I’m worried they might be compromised. If the vault hasn’t been sealed already, there’s a great danger the enemy has it. We can’t allow that. Besides, considering the circumstances, you’re the only one I can trust right now.” I could understand; the general suspected someone sold out the Republic and caused a massive scandal to turn the public against us. “Well what am I looking for then?” “OMI says it’s a small black data module with the serial number 061535214. For some reason they need it analyzed right away. It’s a pretty piss-poor time for it, but I can’t argue with that department. No idea what it’s for; apparently it’s above my clearance.” I chuckled, “You, of all people?” trying to ease the tension. He wasn’t in a humorous mood. He growled, “Now’s not the time, Devon. Get your squad and get to it on the double. Once you come back, you’re on the next dropship out of here.” “You’ll be on it too, right?” I was getting worried he’d cut it down to the wire, planning to take the very last ship out of here. The blockade would only get stronger over time, and the fighter escorts were getting ready to bail out. Without a moment’s hesitation, he answered, “Sorry, son, but a Praetorian must look to the safety of others before himself. I’m not moving until everyone else is safe.” Then rather tersely, “Now get moving” “But dad-“ “That is an order!” Seeing he wasn’t going to listen, I ran off towards the battlefield. If that old fool gets himself killed, we might not be able to recover from this, I thought to myself. I found my squad waiting for me in an abandoned building, what had once been the local patent office. Me and my friends from our hometown were part of our own squad called “Wolfpack”. We were a squad on the Colonial Marines’ Expeditionary Force, and spent three years protecting the colonies from raiders. However, we had been recalled to support Earth. With me were my brother Adrian, and my close friends Leonard Mancuso and Reed Westbrook. “What’d pop want?” Adrian asked. “OMI wants us to secure The Vault,” I told my friends. “They need us to extract some valuable intel to make sure it doesn’t fall into enemy hands.” “Isn’t The Vault supposed to seal itself off in case of enemy attack?” asked Reed. “Besides, guarding The Vault is the Praetorian’s job.” “There’s an artifact the crypies want us to recover when we fall back to Mars outpost Alpha. The Praetorians haven’t reported back yet, so they want to leave nothing to chance.” “It’s a damn suicide mission, then,” Reed muttered. Adrian and Leonard didn’t complain, but shared concerned glances. “Hey, I don’t want to hear it,” I scolded Reed. “We’ve faced worse odds before. We’ll hold our own inside the fortress. This’ll just be a quick snatch & grab op. In and out under ten minutes tops.” Adrian checked his magazine and loaded his assault rifle. “Ten minutes?” he asked, smiling, “I won’t even have to call the party committee.” Leonard chuckled and added, “I can fix a Sabre engine in less time. Let’s do this.” I turned to Reed and asked him firmly, “So, you on board or not?” “I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it,” Reed answered with a smirk. “I’d rather go down fighting than get shipped off to a retirement home with half my marbles.” Reed was a lot like that; weirdly pessimistically optimistic. As cynical as he could be, I always knew he had my back. We ran against the fleeing crowds toward the citadel; the seat of the Republic of Earth. It was a towering monument to the long-awaited unity of mankind, though now it lay in ruins from the day-long bombings. It’s marble surface was chipped and worn wherever it wasn’t outright destroyed. We approached the rear entrance when a silver-armored Praetorian stopped us. “Hold right there, we’ve mined the rear entrance. What business do you have in here?” I answered, “We’ve got OMI clearance for a recovery mission in the vault. Communications with the Praetorians there were cut; we need to get inside ASAP.” The Praetorian glanced at the doorway, pondering the situation, then responded, “Last I checked, they were still alive and holding the enemy. You’ll need to find another way inside. Just don’t let the enemy see you.” We ran around the perimeter of the citadel when Adrian shouted, “I think I see a way up here, up the rubble. We can get into the primary antechamber here.” Cautiously, we helped on another climb the loose rubble into the gaping hole in the wall. Inside, it was marginally quieter, and the air had less smoke to choke us, but more debris in the form of powdered stone. Inside, many of the grand monuments were still relatively intact; marble and bronze statues celebrating the triumphs of humanity in uniting against a common threat. The largest by far was a statue of a collapsed, wounded Atlas being crushed under the weight of the world, with a massive serpent wrapping it’s coils around it. At the base, the people of the world were lifting the world, supporting Atlas with their own arms. At the top, a handful of soldiers were poised to confront the snake at spearhead face-to-face. On the pedestal, a plaque read, “Now and forever, we remember these honored dead who gave all that they had so that man may live on.” It was a memorial to the Kolorian Invasion, when Earth made first contact with a hostile extraterrestrial race intent on strip-mining our whole system and selling our people into slavery. It was at that pivotal moment that The Republic, at the time an underground organization known as Arbitration, came out of hiding to resist the invaders and push them back. The invaders had destroyed every other government and army in the war; as a result, Arbitration was the only surviving de facto government left, and it became official once the Republic was founded. We slipped past the antechamber and made our way down to the lower basement where The Vault was housed. We passed several heaps of dead bodies; many of them were raggedly covered PLF fanatics, with a couple Republic soldiers in between. We came upon the massive doors of The Vault, built of three feet of titanium and carved into the bedrock. There were no signs of any Praetorians; not even any bodies. “What the hell happened here?” Reed asked under his breath. “Weird for them to take the bodies.” I turned to the squad and ordered, “All right, boys, let’s make this fast. Leonard, get the doors open. The rest of you, cover him.” Leonard approached the security panel and took out a security card, slipping it through a slot in the machine. The doors creaked open slowly, for what seemed like hours. Behind us, we heard the shouts of a new wave of PLF militia across the hall. “We got company!” Adrian shouted, and threw a grenade down the hall just as the enemy appeared around the corner. The explosion made them fly into a heap, creating a bloody impromptu barrier that would slow down the enemy advance. “I got this, cover me!” I shouted over the firefight and ran to the doors. They still hadn’t fully opened, but there was enough space for me to squeeze by with some effort. I had never seen the inside of the vault before; I was breathless to see a massive room full of strange towers and crystal-like objects. I didn’t have time to take it all in. Adrian shouted inside the doorway, “Hurry up! The Vault could self-seal at any minute!” No sooner had he said that, when the doors grinded to a screeching halt. Leonard ran to the security panel. “Panel’s fried! Must’ve been shot in the firefight. Self-seal protocol will initiate unless I can get this thing working again.” Leonard reached into his satchel for a plasma cutter and tore the panel apart, desperately trying to buy me time by fixing the wiring. I frantically searched the backroom for the data module, checking every serial number I saw. After checking twenty, I found it on the floor, almost hidden under a table. “Got it!” I shouted and sprinted back to the doorway. The doors suddenly creaked again, and started lurching close together in fits and starts. “Get the hell outta there, I can’t stop them from closing!” Leonard shouted. The sound of gears grinding together could be heard as I ran desperately to get out in time. Once I reached the door, I dove out into the narrow gap just as the doors finally closed for good. Once I got back up, I could see the fanatics were still advancing on us. We all suppressed their movement with rifle fire, but we knew we couldn’t hold them off forever. “This isn’t good,” Adrian shouted, “they’re blocking our only way out.” “We’ll flush them out if we have to,” I told him. Suddenly several of the fanatics exploded and were sent flying in the air. “Was that you?” I asked Reed. “No, I’m all outta grenades.” “Then who was that?” A voice shouted, “Just a housewarming gift from the neighbors down the street!” Out of the smoke and rubble, the remaining squad members, Paul Dawson and Arch Harris, walked by with big grins on their faces. “Damn, am I glad to see you guys,” I announced, relieved. “We got relieved from tank duty and thought you guys could use some support,” Paul told us. Arch added, “And by relieved, we mean our tank got blown up. We ditched it as soon as it caught fire. Took a couple bastards with it.” “All right,” I shouted, still catching my breath, “let’s get the hell out of here.” We practically sprinted out of the building, but our progress slowed as we had to cross the open ground outside. Paul, Arch and Adrian ran ahead while the rest of us provided covering fire against a group that broke past the barricades. We followed shortly after dispatching them, but the other group had disappeared out of sight. The gunfire and explosions were becoming louder and more frequent; they were getting closer. We dove into the skeleton of an apartment building in the civilian quarter. I heard a grenade explode just a few yards to my right. That was too close; they must have taken the senate hall already. Very little distance remained from there to the airfield. This will surely be our last stand if we cannot protect the remaining ships. We crossed the street back into the patent office where the Squad first met. I held my rifle over my head to indicate we were friendlies. “Hold your fire, friendlies falling back!” one of them shouted, as he ran directly towards me. The smoke was so thick, Adrian couldn’t recognize me until he was practically on top of me. “What’s the sit rep, lieutenant?” I shouted. “Enemy has secured the Senate, we’re the only ones to make it out. The Praetorians must’ve been wiped out. Enemy armor is still stuck behind the building, but we’re going to see a mob of tangos in the next five minutes if we don’t hold the line. Paul and Arch have taken a defensive position ahead to provide enfilade fire. “We only need to buy the evacuation another ten minutes before they can load up and take us out of here. Dad’s organizing what’s left of it, the rest of the boys are holding up down the street. They can cover us while we fall back with mounted machineguns and grenade launchers. I just need you to stay alive for that long.” Already the insurgents had broken through the last barricade. They were shouting and hollering, firing their Kalashes in the air, whooping and hollering like banshees. They were trying to scare us into submission, I thought, before they mercilessly slaughter us. Well a special surprise had been left for them; Just as the mob crossed the ruined highway, a mass of explosions engulfed them as hundreds of C4 charges exploded simultaneously, bringing the charge to a full stop. The men behind them stopped, fearful that they had just walked into a minefield. In a few short seconds later, a rifle in one of the buildings cracked, bringing down an insurgent in improvised riot gear. A minigun in another window poured out hot lead onto the crowd. “Now’s our chance, let’s move!” I signaled to Adrian by patting his shoulder, turned around and checked the doorway. The enemy was concentrating on the two assailants; we could safely cross if we sprinted at the same time. “Oscar Mike on three; one…. Two… three!” The four of us darted into a half-demolished building a bit diagonally away from our current location. Just as we entered, a few bullets whizzed right past us. As we breathed a sigh of relief, we regrouped with Paul and Arch. The men had grim looks on their faces. Right away I saw why; Arch Harris had a nasty wound on his side. The wound was patched, but he was still loosing blood rapidly as it soaked the gauze. The bullet must have fractured his ribs, as he cringed whenever he breathed. His face was turning pale; he didn’t have much time left. “Where the hell are the medics?” I asked angrily. Mancuso answered, “They’re all gone, sir. Almost everyone’s evac’d already.” Arch turned to me, and between gasps, he plead, “I’m a dead man, Captain. You guys go on ahead without me, and I’ll cover you from here.” “That’s a negative, Arch. You’re coming with us on the next dropship out of here.” I wasn’t about to abandon one of my friends. There was still time to save him. Then something unexpected happened. Arch lunged his arm at my collar and pulled me closer. He growled, “Don’t be stupid. I can cover you guys. You need to get out while you still can. Don’t need me slowing you down. I’ll bleed out before I hit the tarmac, anyways.” It pained me to think I couldn’t save him. I’d be loosing a friend I had since I left Gainnesville so many years ago. But he told me, “I’d rather go out this way, anyways. Now go, you damn fool!” He let go of my collar and tried to prop himself up near the window. I took a syringe from my pocket full of morphine. It would only dull the pain, but at least Arch would be able to take his mind off the pain. I put the needle in his leg, and let the small vial dispense in his veins. “All right, prop him up near the machinegun. We’ll stay here and cover you until the ship arrives.” As we hauled Arch, he moaned from his ribs being stretched. We sat him on top of a wooden crate so he could lean himself against the mounted machinegun. Once in position, he fixed his gaze forward and barely moved; he was as stiff as a statue, and wouldn’t let anything break his concentration. “You got things handled, Arch?” Adrian asked. Arch spat out some blood like a wad of tobacco. “Yeah. I figure I can get you about forty seconds before I have to reload.” “Dropship’s here!” Reed shouted. “Let’s move, people!” I patted Arch on the shoulder, and before running out, I told him, “Good Luck, Arch.” “See you on the other side,” he replied. The rest of us ran down the street to reach the tarmac where the last dropship waited. General Morris hopped out in full praetorian armor. He shouted over the roar of the engines, “Is this everybody?” “Affirmative,” I told him. “You recovered the data module?” “Right here,” I answered as I patted my pocket with the data file in it. “Good. I don’t know what OMI wants with it, but it must be important to our survival if they need it now of all times. We’ll regroup on Mars and wait it out, then form a counterattack on the fanatics.” As much as I wanted to make the best of the situation, I rebutted, “Dad, it’s not just a few rebels; the whole planet thinks we’re a bunch of fascist tyrants.” Ever the idealist, he never lost his optimism. “You leave that to me, son. This runs much deeper than you realize. It might be our old nemesis OmniCorp; I’m investigating the bastard who started this mess in the first place. When I expose him, it’ll turn the tide in our favor.” Just then a mortar strike narrowly missed us. The shockwave from the explosion knocked us to the ground. When I got up, I saw that Adrian had hit his head against the dropship and was knocked out. I checked his pulse; he was still alive. Just then a mob was heard breaking through one of the barricades. David picked up a rocket launcher and took a position by the sandbags. He shouted, “Load him up, I’ll buy you some time!” As the mob got closer, David fired a rocket at the crowd, and they fell like a stack of dominos. We managed to haul Adrian onto the gunship on a stretcher. It wouldn’t be much longer now before the mob had completely overrun the tarmac. “Come on, Dad! Get in!” I shouted to him. I reached out my hand to pull him in. He was about to climb aboard, but a tank had burst through a wall and was closing the gap between itself and our ship. Dad ran right towards the tank just as the dropship took off. “What the hell are you doing?!” “Tank needs taking care of. No way I’ll risk getting you in the back-blast. Your Mission takes priority.” Praetorian to the end, I thought to myself. David fired his rocket at the tank; it crumpled under the explosive forces. The roar was deafening, and gave the dropship a light push. “Pilot, swing around! We gotta pick up the General!” Time was running out for David. Another mob broke through the defenses. David had only one more rocket left; he reloaded, fired, and made another group collapse into a heap. But they were swarming from all directions. I grabbed my rifle and tried to give him some covering fire, but my rifle jammed. “Goddamnit, not now.” I slammed the barrel and chambered a new round. But it was jammed too. I kept cycling rounds until the magazine ran dry. “For God’s Sake!” I angrily shouted. I threw the rifle on the floor and took out my pistol. The ship rocked violently and I couldn’t get a straight shot. But it was too late. An enemy rifle hit my father squarely in the thigh, knocking him onto the ground. I was dumbstruck. I couldn’t even feel my own legs from the shock. All I could do was hopelessly watch him crawl painfully on the ground. He turned on his side to face his approaching attackers. They were running at him with bayonets and Kalashes; some of them armed with no more than butcher’s knives. David took out his service pistol and emptied his magazine into eight rebels. When he ran out, though, he slumped down. A figure in armor approached him slowly. None of the fanatics came closer; David crawled to his knees and lifted his head to see his executioner in the eyes. The man pressed a pistol to David’s forehead. All I remember of what happened next was a crack of thunder ripping through my head. Category:Blog posts